Vending payout apparatus



United States Patent 3,508,635 VENDING PAYOUT APPARATUS Jack E. Bayha,'Chesterland, Ohio, assignor to glliDAC/UsA Incorporated, a corporationof Filed Mar. 20, 1968, Ser. No. 714,679 Int. Cl. G07f 11/00 U.S. Cl.1942 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A compact, highly reliable payoutapparatus utilizing a unique electrical circuit to eliminatejack-potting and a gear drive which includes an overrunning clutch toprevent damage to the drive upon any jamming, which apparatus isextremely inexpensive and simple to manufacture, yet highly effectiveand reliable in operation.

This invention represents an improvement by simplification and cost overthe coin payout mechanism shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,280,953.Essentially, the general object of the invention is to provide a highlyreliable payout apparatus specifically for coins or other vendingoperation which is positive and not subject to jackpotting, yet whichincorporates an extremely simple mechanical and electrical structurewhich is quite inexpensive. The device of the invention is completelyimmune from shock actuation and utilizes the theory that a bistabledevice must be reversed to keep the device from jackpotting so there canbe no failure from without or within.

The aforesaid object of the invention and other objects which willbecome apparent as the description proceeds is achieved by providing avending payout apparatus which includes the combination of a frame, apayout bar slidably carried by the frame, a motor mounted to the frame,gear means connecting the motor to the payout bar to effectsubstantially linear movement of the bar upon actuation of the motor,and means to energize the motor upon receipt of a proper vend pulsewhich is characterized by clutch means associated with the gear means toallow slippage upon any jamming of the payout bar.

For better understanding of the invention, reference should be had tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan schematic representation of the gear train utilizedto achieve drive from the motor to the payout bar;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged broken away cross-sectional representation of theclutch arrangement of one of the gears in the drive chain taken on line2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are schematic illustrations showing the movement ofthe payout bar upon rotation of the end gears in the gear drive chain;and

FIG. 4 is an electrical schematic diagram of the electrical circuitutilized to drive the motor.

With reference to the form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 of thedrawings, the numeral indicates generally a frame which rotatablysupports a plurality of gears indicated generally by numeral 12 and adrive motor indicated by a dotted line 14. Essentially, the drive motorrotates a small drive gear 16 which drives through a gear train 18, 20,and 22 to effect drive to a large idler gear 24. Idler gear 24 drives asecond idler gear 26 and a slide bar drive gear 28 simultaneously with asecond slide bar drive gear 30 being driven by idler gear 26, all as isquite clearly shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. Essentially, drive of aslide bar, indicated in FIG. 1 by a dotted line 32, is achieved by eachof the drive gears 28 and 30 mounting a drive pin 28a and 30a, respec-3,508,635 Patented Apr. 28, 1970 tively which engage through appropriateslots 32a and 32b in the drive bar 32.

In order to achieve proper electrical actuation and drive to the motor14 each of the drive gears 28 and 30 also has appropriate actuating pins28b, 30b, and 300, respectively. The pin 28b cooperates with anappropriate switch 40 while pins 30b and 300 cooperate with anappropriate switch 42, the function and operation of which will be morefully described hereinafter. Also, in order to positively limit thedriving relationship of gears 28 and 30, -pin 28b cooperates with afixed stop 44 mounted to frame 10 while pin 30c cooperates with anappropriate stop 46 also fixedly mounted to frame 10. In other words, inthe embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, drive gear 28cannot rotate any further in the clockwise direction thus limiting anyfurther rotation of the other gears to drive gear 28 in the clockwisedirection. Likewise, when pin 30c engages stop 46 upon rotation of thedrive gear 30 in the clockwise direction, no further clockwise rotationof gear 30 will occur thus limiting the total total movement of thegears in that direction since upon clockwise rotation of gear 30, gear28 will be rotating in a counter-clockwise direction. Pin 30b does notcooperate with stop 46 in any manner, being purposely made somewhatshorter than pm 300.

The rotation of gears 28 and 30 and the actual physical movement ofslide bar 32 upon rotation thereof is most clearly shown in FIGURES 3Aand 3B. Here it can be seen that the initial movement from an at restposition is as illustrated in FIG. 3A where gear 28 rotates in acounter-clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow and gear 30 in aclockwise direction, again as indicated by the arrow, which upon arotation of each gear, forces the slide bar 32 to the position shown inFIG. 3B to effect a desired payout. It is at this point that pin 30cwill have engaged stop 46 limited the rotative relationship of gears 28and 30. This causes actuation of switch 42 by pin 30b to reverse thedirection of drive to motor 14, as will be more fully explainedhereinafter, causing rotation of gears 28 and 30 in the oppositedirection as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 3B, thus effecting returnof the slide bar 14 to its initial position shown in FIG. 3A, wherebyengagement of switch 42 by pin 30c stops the drive to motor 32, again aswill be more fully explained with reference to circuit diargram of FIG.4 hereinbelow.

In order to insure that with a gear drive such as illustrated in FIG. 1,the gears will not be stripped, and the mechanism severly damaged uponany possible jam- Ining of bar 14 such as might occur when coins becomejammed in the chute, or because someone is trying to defeat the payoutor cause jackpotting to occur, a clutch mechanism is associated withgear 20 to allow motor 14 to drive without elfectuating any drivingmovement to gears 28 and 30, and yet which clutch arrangement willinsure a sufficiently positive drive when the mechanism is not jammed.

The detail of this clutch arrangement is shown in FIG. 2 of the drawingswhich illustrates gear 20 mounted to a hub indicated generally bynumeral 50. The hub 50 is rotatably supported by a spindle 52 which ismounted in any appropriate manner to frame 10 as by welding at 52a and52b, for example. The spindle 52 might appropriately be made fromsuitable steel and have a smooth outer surface so as to allow smoothrotation of hub 50 therearound. The hub 50 comprises a small drive gearportion 50a on the lower end thereof and a reduced diameter bearingsurface 50b on the upper end thereof. The lower gear portion 50a mesheswith gear 22 while the annular open center of gear 20 is received in aforced fit relationship over bearing surface 50b, as is clearly shown inFIG. 2.

With gear 20 being made from an appropriate plastic such as nylon havinglong wearing characteristics and some elasticity, a clutching engagementresults between the bearing surface 50b and the annular opening throughthe center of gear 20. This frictional engagement is sufficient withoutany jamming to provide direct drive from gear 20 through gear 50a togear 22. A Teflon clutch sleeve 50c facilitates the engagement of gear20 with the shoulder of gear 50a. However, with any jamming of the slidebar 14, gear 22 will be stopped and held in a non-rotative relationshipwhich thereby causes slippage between the surface of bearing 50b, sleeve50c and the annular opening through gear 20 as gear 20 rotates aroundthe hub 50 held in fixed relationship by the meshed engagement of gear50a with gear 22. The sleeve 50c facilitates the sliding clutchingaction of the gear 20 to hub 50.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ELECTRICAL OPERATION FIG. 4 illustrates theelectrical schematic utilized to control interconnection between themotor 14 and switches 40 and 42. It should be noted that electricallyswitches 40 and 42 each comprise two independent switches 40a and 40b,and 42a and 42b, one of which is open dependent upon the actuationposition of the switch. The switch 40 is appropriately called anin-cycle switch, as will be more fully explained hereinafter, and isillustrated in FIG. 4 in the actuated position. As soon as switch 40de-actuates it shifts to the opposite position being spring loaded, andremains in the opposite position until actuated at the end of the cycle.Switch 42, on the other hand, is a double throw single pole switch whichremains in the position to which it is actuated until it has beenpositively switched to the opposite position.

The circuit also includes a coin out switch indicated by dotted block 70comprising an out switch 70a and validator power switch 70b. A suitablerelay 80 controls contacts 80a, 80b, and 800, respectively upon properactuation thereof with each of the switches shown in their normalnon-actuated positions, and which switches return to such normalnon-actuated positions as soon as power is lost to the relay 80. Aplurality of diodes 90', 92, 94, and 96 control and rectify thedirection of current flow in the circuit from a 24 volt AC power source98.

In order to provide a delay in the actuation cycle of relay 80 to insurean authentic vend pulse 100 is received, an appropriate capacitor 102and resistor 104 are connected from the vend pulse to ground 106 toinsure some current passage and time delay is provided to eliminate thepossibility of actuation of relay 80 on a very short and improper vendpulse 100, caused by external shocked relay actuation.

A test switch 108 may be provided to check the operation of the circuitas this simulates the vend pulse 100 by connecting the 24 volt AC supply98 to relay 80 by means of diode 92. In order to insure that the systemwill cut out upon overloading or jamming after a preselected period oftime, a thermal motor protector indicated by dotted block 110 isprovided which includes a resistance winding 112 and a normally closedswitch 114 bimetalically actuated by excessive heating in resistancewinding 112. An appropriate resistor 116 is connected from the in-cycleswitch 40 to the motor protector 110 to give the entire circuit theappropriate tailored characteristics for the desired cycle lengths ofthe payout apparatus. An appropriate thermal motor protector might beone made by Hold-Heet, Inc., Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, Ill.

The coin out switch 70 is mounted on the face of the frame as indicatedin FIG. 1 of the drawings and is depressed by the presence ofappropriate coins or other media to be expended by movement of slide bar32. In the actuated position, indicating the presence of coins or othermedia to be vended the validator switch 70b will be closed and the outof coin switch 70a will be open. This then allows the validator, whichmight be any appropriate apparatus, such as that shown in Us. Patent No.3,360,653, to achieve validation to function since the machine now tellsthe validator that coins or other articles to be vended are present, andhence dollar bills, or other currency can be accepted by the validatorfor authentication. Naturally, when the coins are out, and switch 70reverses, the bulb 70b will light showing the apparatus is out of coins,and the switch 70b will open thereby making it impossible for thevalidator to function by removing power.

With the foregoing description of the specific circuitry in mind, theactual operation of the circuitry will now be described. A vend pulse100 is received through diode to actuate relay 80. As mentioned above,there is a built in time delay before the actuation of relay 80 causedby the electrical characteristics of capacitor 102 and resistor 104.However, once relay 80 is actuated, it shifts contacts 80a, 80b and 800from the positions illustrated in FIG. 4 to the opposite positions. Thisimmediately al lows the 24 volt AC input 98 to pass through reverseswitch 42a, diode 94, and closed switch 80b through motor 14 and toground 106. This starts rotation of motor 14 to drive gear 16 as seen inFIG. 1, and causes rotation of both drive gears 28 and 30, as describedabove. The actuation of relay 80 by vend pulse is for a relatively shortduration of time, such as less than 500 milliseconds, and the delayperiod by capacitor 102 and resistor 104, is normally between 10 to 100milliseconds. However, the relay 80 is of the type that once contact 80ais closed, and power therefore is supplied directly from the 24 volt ACinput 98 through a switch 42a, the relay will remain actuated eventhough the vend pulse 100 is terminated. Hence, current will continue tofiow to motor 14 through 80b until drive gear 30 has proceeded 180 tocause actuation of reversing switch 42 which shifts switches 42a and42b. As can clearly be seen from the diagram, as soon as switch 42a isopened, relay 80 will drop out causing switches 80a, 80b, and 80c toreturn to the original position shown in FIG. 4, and because switch 42bhas now closed, power is now available through 42b, diode 96 and switch800 to motor 14. However, because of the reversed position of diode 96,the current polarity to motor 14 is reversed, causing a reversed drivethereof and a return of the motor to the original shown in FIG. 4.However, because relay 80 is now de-actuated, no further current will beavailable to motor 14, and the drive will stop.

The in-cycle switch 40 having been actuated before any drive of motor 14takes place immediately shifts as soon as motor 14 drives pin 28b offthe switch causing switch 40b to open and switch 40a to close.Naturally, the opening of switch 40b breaks current through switch 70b,to the validator making it impossible for the validator to receive anyfurther money or coins during the actual vend cycle. The connection ofswitch 40a into the circuit autornatically actuates the resistor 112 ofthe thermal motor protector placing this portion of the circuit intooperation. In in-cycle switch will return to its initial positon afterthe motor has driven the gears back to their initial position upon thereciprocating movement.

The invention contemplates utilization of a direct current motor formotor 14, rather than a shaded pole motor thereby giving the motor goodsensitivity to voltage reversal by the rectification of diodes 94 and96. As is well known, it is a complex operation to switch the directionof drive in a shaded pole motor by reversal of current.

The diode 92 is provided to prevent feedback of the rectified AC vendpulse coming in thorugh diode 90 into the remainder portion of thecircuit, and to insure that it passes to actuate relay 80 if it is ofproper strength and duration.

Therefore, it should be understood that the invention utilizes anextremely simple electrical circuit which requires positive reversal ofmotor 14 to complete a vend cycle, and which reversal is accomplished bymechanical actuation of a reversing switch in conjunction with a uniquegear train drive to change the circular motion of gears into linearmotion for driving a slide bar. The clutching action present in the geartrain prevents damage to the gears by jamming of the slide bar.

While in accordance with the patent statutes only one best knownembodiment of the invention has been illus trated and described indetail, it is to be particularly understood that the invention is notlimited thereto or thereby.

What is claimed is:

1. A vending payout apparatus which comprises,

a frame, a payout bar slidably carried by said frame, a

motor mounted to the frame, and gear means connecting the motor to thepayout bar to effect substantially linear movement of said bar uponactuation of said motor, whereby at least one gear has a pin engagingthe payout bar to provide linear motion to such bar upon rotation ofsaid gear, means to energize the motor upon receipt of a proper vendpulse,

switch means mounted to said frame engageable \b said gear upon apredetermined angular rotation thereof to reverse said motor and stopthe drive of said motor upon its return to its original position.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 where switch means are provided toinsure against production of another vend pulse during the operation ofthe apparatus.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 where the motor is a direct currentmotor, and includes rectifying diodes connected to the switch means tochange the polarity of energization to the motor after an initial drivein one direction causes the gear means to engage the switch means.

4. A vending payout apparatus comprising a frame, a plurality ofcircular gears defining a train rotatably mounted to the frame wherebytwo gears are mounted in spaced relation to rotate at the same speedupon driving of the train, means to rotatably drive at least one of thegears, pin means mounted at the same radial position on each of said twogears and extending substantially perpendicular to the surface thereof,and a payout bar slidably received by the frame, said bar having a pairof spaced aligned slots extending therethrough and each slot receiving apin means therein whereby rotation of said two gears causes linearsliding movement of said payout bar, and characterized by switch meansmounted to the frame and actuated by one of said two gears to reversethe drive means and return the gears to their initial starting position.

5. An apparatus according to claim 2 where the means to rotatably driveis a direct current motor and includes rectifying diodes operating inconjunction with said switch means to reverse the polarity of theactuating current to the motor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,882,563 10/1932 Bartlett221--258 X 2,015,351 9/1935 Morin. 2,884,110 4/1959 Krasney 22l258 X3,280,953 10/1966 Bayha et a1. 194-2 OTHER REFERENCES 543,639 12/1955Belgium.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

